~ The unforeseen ~
~ by Anne Shard (alias Odeena Skywalker) ~
Chapter eight: Illidan's servants
The sun had long since set when Illidan descended slowly, although they were at a considerable distance from the citadel. He set Maiev on the ground and then crouched, indicating her to do the same.
"What is it?" Maiev asked quietly. "What is wrong?"
"I do not see any of my servants anywhere", Illidan answered in a whisper. "And from what I could sense, neither Kael nor Vasj are inside the citadel."
Maiev frowned. "Could it be deserted?"
Illidan shook his head, "No. I did sense a presence in there, although I could not tell for certain what it was." He gave a small sigh. "Perhaps it would be best if I went to scout ahead."
"We should remain together", Maiev argued.
"It would be useless to expose yourself to such risks, Maiev. Whatever dangers await, I am certain that I can face them, as I had done many times before. You, however, would not be fit for such a confrontation.."
"My skills in battle are considerable", Maiev replied, sounding slightly offended.
"It may be so, in your world, but here they mean nothing." Illidan stood up, warning Maiev to be silent with a gesture. "I will not be long", he whispered. "Stay alert."
"Very well" Maiev agreed resignedly. Then, she paused for a second. "Illidan...?"
"Yes?"
"Take care."
Illidan nodded quietly. A second later, he had disappeared into the night.
Maiev shivered. The night was cold, and she could feel fear rising despite herself. What if, despite everything he had said, Illidan still longed for revenge? What if he did not return? What if he left her here, alone, a defenseless prey for all creatures of the night?
The warden reached for the handle of her circular dagger, and grasped it tightly. This gave her a slight feeling of security, and she sighed. For now, she had no choice but to wait for Illidan's return. 'If he should return at all', Maiev thought bitterly. As minutes dragged by, she began to doubt the truth of Illidan's words.
Suddenly, Maiev tensed. In the dark, she heard a loud hiss, followed immediately by another. It seemed to come from her right. She stood up and squinted in the dark, but could not see anything. The hiss came again, closer this time, and a second later Maiev felt cold, long fingers wrapping around her wrist. She jerked her arm free and then recoiled a few steps, holding her dagger at ready. The creature which had attempted to seize her slithered closer, stopping at a short distance from the warden. Behind it appeared several other creatures, and Maiev recognized at once the unmistakable features of several Naga myrmidons and a sea witch.
"It is one of the wretched night elves", one of the myrmidons said in a deep, unnatural voice.
"I thought that we had driven them away for good!" another one cried. "I say we do away with this one right now!"
Maiev took another step back. However, before she could reply, a tall, winged figure seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and now stood between her and the advancing Naga.
"No", Illidan said, at the same time motioning for Maiev to come to his side. "She is my companion", he added, taking her arm firmly, "and you will not harm her in any way."
"Lord Illidan...?" the sea witch inquired, her golden eyes widening in surprise. "Is it... is it really you?" Her staggering questions were seconded by those of the myrmidons, who had also recognized their master.
"It is I", the demon replied.
The sea witch bow her head along with the others. "When... when you did not return to Draenor with us, we thought you had been killed", she said quietly. "Forgive us."
"There are things worse than death", Illidan said. "But that is a story for another time. Tell me, what has happened here? How did the demons come to reclaim our citadel?"
"The demons..." The sea witch seemed thoughtful for a moment. "After the battle at Quel'Thalas, our forces were severely weakened. Seizing the opportunity, a new demon lord, named Mongrethod, rallied the remainders of Mag'theridon's forces and stormed the citadel. We were unable to hold out."
"Pardon the interruption", one of the myrmidons cut in, "but we have lingered here for too long. We should return to camp."
"Indeed we should. Lord Illidan, we have established several base camps across the land, and so far we were able to hold out despite Mongrethod's constant attacks. Come, we shall lead you to our camp."
Illidan nodded, "Let us be on our way then."
"This changes things quite a lot", Maiev said quietly as they began to walk.
Illidan sighed. "I did not believe that my reign over Outland would come to such an end, and so soon", he said grimly. "Apparently, I was wrong."
Maiev put a comforting hand on Illidan's arm. "It will be all right", she said in a small whisper, although she did not believe it herself.
The demon nodded quietly. Then, neither of them said anything for the rest of the way.
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Author's Note: Sorry, sorry, sorry! Yes, I know it took me an eternity to update! Sorry again! I'm just really caught up in a lot of stuff at the moment! Please be patient and bear with me, OK...? Pretty please...? ...thank you! And thanks for reviewing go to:
Destro1990: OOCness?! Where? Where? *takes a baseball bat and starts whacking around like crazy* Okay... *pant* that... *pant* wasn't supposed to happen... *pant pant* And about shooting Furion in the leg... well, I wouldn't recommend it unless you can run like hell afterwards. Before he casts 'Entangling roots' on you that is. You definitely wouldn't like to see how that feels like... would you? ^_^
Jawelik: I'm writing as fast as I can. Sorry that you have to wait so long for each chapter.
katylar: Well... what can I say? I'm doing my best to build up a plot that won't contain any OOCness - because I hate OOCness - and will lead to some romantic moments... okay, as romantic as they could be, because, after all, we're talking about Illidan and Maiev here ^_^ And about that bit about Maiev being defenseless... well... I suppose Maiev was looking for an argument against the idea of leaving her cloak and helmet behind, and she said what came into her mind first. At least, that is my explanation for it.
Jays Arravan: Yup, Maiev and Illidan are getting friendly. As for Kael and Vasj's reactions... well... just wait for the next chapters! ^_^